2018 Mitre 10 Cup Form XV
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@chchfanatic and did wellington get two players in the top XVs?
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@machpants someone had to say it.
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@chchfanatic Says more about the standard of the comp tbh. That Canterbury team is shit but are still somehow there. Having Romano there has made a huge difference to an average side.
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@african-monkey thought the quality was much better last year than this year, whereas this year some teams have been very good and then have also been poor, lack of consistency, that I guess is probably about right given the largely amateur nature of many of the players.
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@taniwharugby It was way better for me, purely because the Magpies were competitive this year. My enjoyment of watching them has meant I'll watch more other games as well to see how the other contenders are going.
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@taniwharugby Yeah from a premiership POV, Taranaki's depth has been exposed big time, Canterbury have done ok for a side rebuilding but haven't looked convincing for most of the season which is understandable considering the quality they have lost, having said that they always find a way to win even when they aren''t expected to, Counties wouldn't have made the championship semis but will be stoked to have stayed up with the very limited side they have, North Harbour will be disapponted with their season with the side they have as they should have done a lot better, Wellington are talented but still a bit raw but will be strong in the coming years, Auckland has suprised many, it's amazing what a half decent coaching team can do and Ta$man are doing what they should be doing as they came into the season as overwhelming favourites.
In a way, the comp has become more even due to Canterbury coming back to the pack, but I do feel that the comp was stronger in previous years where sides like Auckland who were far stronger on paper would miss out on the semis, Taranaki were always tough, Counties would be far more competitive with guys like Nanai-Williams, Pulu, Manu, Aki etc. and Wellington were a championship side.
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@african-monkey The funny thing is, that at the beginning of the season, a few Waikato supporters on the Fern were complaining about Taranaki stealing some of their players and Waikato ending up with some unwanted former Taranaki players (the O'Donnells come to mind). Now Taranaki goes down to the Championship, while Waikato may go back up to the Premiership if they can win the SF and F.
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@african-monkey said in 2018 Mitre 10 Cup Form XV:
@taniwharugby ....and Ta$man are doing what they should be doing as they came into the season as overwhelming favourites.
Not according to the TAB, Ta$man weren't!
Anyone who got on Auckland at $12 would be reasonably happy though and Ta$man at $7 were good value!
@stargazer said in Mitre 10 Cup - news, injuries etc:
The TAB have released their Odds for the Outright Winners for the Heartland Championship , Mitre10 Cup Premiership and Mitre10 Championship.
Early Favourites are, respectively :
Wanganui / Canterbury / Otago2.00 Canterbury
5.00 Wellington
6.00 Taranaki
7.00 Ta$man
9.00 North Harbour
12.00 Auckland
21.00 Counties Manukau -
@chris-b Those odds were done on reputation lets be honest here
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@african-monkey A pretty well-founded one with Canterbury though.
In my mind, those red and black bastards are favourites until we nail them into their coffin, attach the necessary postage, deliver them to Nelson airport and I see the red tail-light of their plane disappear over the Bryant Range!
Ta$man were never favorites - partially because our depth is so shallow. We've been incredibly lucky with injuries up until this last match - except with 6/8s where everyone who has even sniffed those jerseys is broken - except Ethan Blackadder!
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@african-monkey Actually, those odds relative to how teams have actually done, are pretty accurate.
Auckland has done way better than expected, Taranaki way worse. Canterbury a bit worse. Ta$man and Counties a bit better. Harbour probably about right.
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@chris-b Don't worry about injuries to your back row, there's plenty of backrowers in Auckland for you guys to use if more get injured.
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@african-monkey Are you sure? We've used up quite a lot of them!
Broken Ta$man 6/8s at last count - Squire, Frizell, Taufua....Fredericks, Miller, Havili, Fox-Matamua...possibly Cirikidaveta and there was another Auckland guy who got a game and has disappeared!
Norris is also broken last game, but he's a 7.
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@steven-harris Wouldn't argue too much against that. I kind of went with collective form from the beginning of the season to the end, and Tupaea has been a bit more consistent through the entire season to me, but Faddes' 2nd half of the season form has been so good, it might be enough to warrant him a spot in that 2nd XV.
